The use of puppetry instead of CGI or live actors...

For my Film History course, I am doing a group research project on Puppetry in Film. (I still can't believe I was able to convince my group to do this topic, I am so psyched!)

Our thesis statement is "The use of puppetry in film instead of live actors or digital effects exhibits an aesthetic choice used to convey artistic meaning."

Now we need to find scholarly sources to back up this statement. Basically, I need quotes about the reason why a film chose to use puppetry or animatronics instead of live actors or digital effects.

If anyone could point me in the direction of any interviews/articles or DVD commentaries I should check out, I would be extremely grateful!

For example, does anyone know a good article or interview that talks about why Jim Henson chose to make the protagonist of The Dark Crystal a puppet instead of using a live actor? Or why Hoggle's face is animatronic instead of getting an actor to wear makeup/prosthetics?